The present invention relates to optical gun sights for hand guns, shot guns or rifles and more particularly to an optical gun sight having internal adjustment means for providing sight and firing calibration and alignment.
Optical gun sights are commonly telescopic in nature, i.e. producing a magnified image of the target, and are provided with a reticle pattern which can be crosshairs, dots or other indicia which facilitates aiming of a rifle improving the accuracy of firing. These optical gun sights, however, are mounted on a rifle, usually above the barrel, and for this and other reasons require adjustment or calibration to provide alignment between the target sighted on the reticle pattern and the trajectory of the bullet to provide accuracy in firing.
Often the adjustment is provided by an external adjustment mechanism located between the optical gun sight itself and the mounting structure of the rifle. This adjustment mechanism permits movement of the optical gun sight vertically and horizontally to provide the desired movement of the reticle pattern and/or target relative to the central axis of the optical gun sight and hence relative to the axis of the barrel for calibration. The result is a relatively heavy and bulky construction. Other constructions in the past have provided for an internal adjustment effective with the sighting reticle pattern and/or image of the target via a spherical bearing but, because of the location of the components, have resulted in a lengthy, heavy construction.
In some instances optical gun sights are mounted on a handle like structure at the top of the rifle; this is provided to facilitate carrying the rifle by manually gripping the rifle by the handle and optical gun sight. However, the noted heavy, bulky and/or lengthy constructions tend to inhibit the ease of manual gripping at the handle and add to the overall weight of the rifle.
With the present invention an internal adjustment is provided for calibration and alignment via a spherical bearing assembly which operates both on an image erector system having a prism structure and on a reticle projecting structure for defining the reticle pattern, i.e. sighting crosshairs, dots, etc. The result is a relatively lightweight, compact structure. The optical gun sight is adapted to be mounted on an external handle on a rifle and, because of its light weight and compact size, facilitates manual gripping and carrying.
The optical gun sight of the present invention has means for day and night illumination of the reticle projecting structure for defining the reticle pattern and is of a construction facilitating such illumination.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and unique optical gun sight for a rifle (shotgun and/or hand gun) which has a novel internal adjustment for sight and firing calibration and alignment.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such an optical gun sight where the internal adjustment is accomplished by a spherical bearing assembly operatively associated with an image erector system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an optical gun sight where the internal adjustment is accomplished by manipulation of the image erector system and a reticle projecting structure for defining the reticle pattern for sighting.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical gun sight having an image erector system which has a reticle projecting structure formed therewith and where internal adjustment for sighting calibration is provided by simultaneous manipulation of the image erector system and reticle projecting system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and unique optical gun sight for a rifle (shotgun and/or hand gun) which has an internal adjustment for sight and firing calibration and alignment and which is compact and generally lightweight.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new and unique optical gun sight for a rifle which is compact and generally lightweight and when mounted on a handle on a rifle facilitates gripping at the handle while minimizing the weight added by the gun sight.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and unique optical gun sight generally of the type noted and of a construction facilitating day and night illumination of the reticle projecting structure for defining the reticle pattern.
It is general object to provide a new and unique optical gun sight for a rifle (shot gun and/or hand gun) having features as previously noted and as further noted in the detailed description which follows.